In his first teaching assignment in the Division, Mr. Do demonstrated knowledge of the subject matter and a highly interactive and engaging teaching style. [He] is to be commended for his interactive teaching style that is highly engaging--in a subject in which engaging students can be challenging. He is also to be commended for taking the initiative to integrate Blackboard into the course.
Mr. Do is clearly knowledgeable regarding the primary subject matter (Medical Terminology) and is also well versed in the clinical applications of terms addressed in class. This knowledge adds greatly to the course. Syllabus contains clear descriptions of the course and course expectations--all of which are quite clear. He handles--and encourages-- questions, and does so easily and correctly without apparent need to refer to notes.
His interactive lecture style continuously involved the students who were clearly engaged. This is particularly important in a course such as Medical Terminology which can easily be 'dis'-engaging. The class was extremely interactive and the instructor 'challenged' the student to think and relate seemingly esoteric terms to realistic applications. He took the initiative to utilize Blackboard--which has not traditionally been the case for this course.
His Socratic style, his challenges to the students, and his use of student 'teams' foster critical thinking--particularly about relationships between the medical terminology being studied to realistic applications of these terms. Tolerance of differing student perspectives was well demonstrated during the observational period through his acceptance of differing viewpoints and his willingness to consider their application to the topic under discussion.
"Mr. Do has an excellent command of the course concepts and is able to effectively incorporate examples to reinforce those concepts. Mr. Do's syllabus is very comprehensive and interpretable. It provides students with an excellent overview of the course contents, exam format and grading system, and student conduct. He is exceptional in his level of preparedness for his course. Clearly he puts considerable time outside the classroom to prepare for the lab. Mr. Do effectively utilizes both traditional and innovative methods and instructional technologies. He encourages students to ask questions during class and meets with students on a one-on-one basis to discuss their performance in the course. Mr. Do works equally well and in a personable, outgoing manner with all of his students.
Mr. Do is an exceptional instructional asset to the program and the institution. His level of commitment to his course and his students is noteworthy. IVC is fortunate to have him on our instructional staff."
"Tu arrived early to setup and make some preliminary drawings on the whiteboard. He played music to relax the environment as students entered the lab. And started lecturing promptly. His lectures used a combination of powerpoint slides and the white board to present material to students. He was enthusiastic about the material and clearly new the subject. He kept the students engaged, often asking them questions throughout his introduction."
"Biology 273L is the laboratory section that supports the Genetics and Molecular Biology course. It is taught in a dedicated laboratory classroom, DBH 104. There are 24 students in the class who are organized in six groups of four students each. The students who arrived early interacted with the other students in their group. The students were quiet and attentive when class began.
The topic for this class session was transcription and translation. The instructor did a very good job of reviewing these concepts; he asked the students questions and waited for their answers, and he answered the students’ questions. The students were then engaged in an in class quiz, which included some sophisticated concepts and ideas. This could have been a trivial exercise, but the quiz questions required the students to have a thorough understanding of these cellular processes. This was a well-designed quiz.
The next activity for this class session was student presentations of the results of their last experiments. The students did a good job of presenting their results. Unfortunately many of the experiments yielded negative results, but that is the reality of doing experiments.